Introduction

In 774 the Frankish armies of Charlemagne (768-814) conquered Italy, and founded a kingdom that was much greater in both extent and power than the kingdom of the Lombards. Under Frankish aegis, the Kings of Italy ruled over both Pavia and Ravenna – the cores of the Lombard and Roman polities of Italy – occasionally also extending their authority over the defiant Lombard duchies of the south, as well as the few surviving imperial enclaves such as Venice and the Puglian coast. Additionally, the rulers of Italy were granted authority over transalpine regions such as Istria, Bavaria, and eastern Alemannia, as well as hegemony over considerable but vaguely defined territories in central and south-eastern Europe. This substantial realm was a precarious one, and it did not long survive the death of its main architect: Charlemagne's third son, King Pippin (781-810). Indeed, two decades afterwards, the very fabric of the kingdom of Italy collapsed and powerful neighbours, both within and outside the Frankish world, took advantage of the realm's disarray.

These years are also blessed with many and rich sources, which narrate the rapidly changing nature of the Kingdom of Italy, from a hostile realm, to one among the cores of Frankish power, only to eventually re-emerge as a rebellious and treacherous kingdom a few decades later. Many authors concentrated on narrating war and disorder, which was read as the main vector for these transformations. Their stories were often built around a handful of Classical topoi. With few exceptions, they are repetitive and formulaic, closely resembling each other in plot: only very seldom has the course of the events been altered.